Crash, bang, wallop

Beautiful losers last season, a chastened Saracens team will strive to win ugly in Saturday's Premiership final

Getting down and dirty has been a recipe for success for Saracens (Henry Browne)

Saracens are a smart but ugly team. Often, they are gruesome. They have learnt
the bitter lessons of last year’s defeat by Leicester in the Premiership
final. That day, and for the few months preceding it, they played some of
the most attractive rugby in England. They finished it as beautiful losers.
If Saracens have their way, the outcome will be different this time around.

From their standpoint, next weekend’s clash can be as ugly as sin. Saracens
are the same team in name only from the one that played with such freedom 12
months ago. While Leicester have set the Premiership pace with more tries
than any rivals, Saracens have been concentrating on checking opposition
rather than creating much for themselves. It has been attrition with a
capital A.

Neutrals will find it hard to pick a favourite. Leicester lost a lot of
friends in the manner of their